01
Coastal Forest
Bhanga Nek, Lala Nek and Mabibi. Dune forest, grassland, wetland and long empty Indian Ocean beaches, reached on sand tracks and not in a hurry. This is where the turtles lay their eggs.
ExploreMAPUTALAND · NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL · SOUTH AFRICA
North of ordinary
In the North–Eastern corner of South Africa, where KwaZulu-Natal runs against the Mozambique border, there is a unique ecological zone many travellers have never heard of. Coral reefs you can snorkel from the beach; four linked lakes where families still operate reed fish kraals their great-great-grandparents built; elephants with some of the biggest tusks left in Africa; beaches where leatherback turtles lay their eggs on summer nights. And all of it within a couple of hours' drive of each other.
That's Maputaland. The trip is not one place but many interlinked landscapes that keep changing under your wheels.
Where you are
Maputaland sits in far northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, between the Indian Ocean and the Lebombo Mountains, reaching up to the Mozambique border. Kosi and its lakes fill the northern corner. Lake Sibaya and the coastal forest run down the coast from there. Sodwana faces the reefs. Tembe and Ndumo are the inland wilderness.
People live and work all through this landscape. Fishing families, guides, conservation teams, lodge teams and communities are part of the same map as the reserves.
Start with the geography
Five ways into the region. Each has its own ecology and unique ecological anomaly worth visting:
02
The Lakes
Kosi's connected chain of lakes, channels and estuary in the north. Lake Sibaya, a separate freshwater lake behind the dunes, farther south. This is where the 1000 year old fish kraals still in operation can be explored.
Explore
03
The Wild
Tembe's sand forest and elephants. Ndumo's floodplain pans, fever-tree forest and some of the best birding in the country. Found here are the amongst largest elephant tuskers in Africa.
Explore
04
The People
Fish-kraal families, local guides, community-owned lodges and conservation that happens on community land. A region that is lived in, not fenced off.
ExploreTurtle season on the Maputaland coast
Every summer, loggerhead and leatherback turtles come back to these beaches to nest. It's one of southern Africa's great natural events. There are various guides and lodges that offer the unbelievable excursion in Maputaland that will bring you back time and again.
Read the turtle guidePlaces to stay, by landscape
Beach
Forest & ocean stays
Small coastal camps and beach lodges between Bhanga Nek and Sodwana, with the dune forest behind you and the Indian Ocean in front.
View staysLake
Kosi lake stays
Manguzi Lodges, bush camps, self-catering houses and campsites around the Kosi lakes, the estuary and the town of Manguzi.
View staysBush
Tembe & wilderness stays
Inland Safari lodges in and around Tembe Elephant Park, close enough to Kosi to do both in one trip. Keep your eyes peeled for the tuskers, lions and leopards!
View staysRead before you go
Explore our regions
Kosi
Lakes, channels, estuary and coastal forest meet in the far north. Fish kraals, turtle beaches and the water that shapes this corner of Maputaland.
Stay
Experience
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